Former Gujarat batter Priyank Panchal on Friday posted a heartfelt message for ace India batter Virat Kohli, narrating a hilarious incident from their days of playing U15 cricket together and how the star batter still remembered it even 18 years later, adding that Kohli is a 鈥榞em of a person鈥.
Panchal, who ended his career as a domestic stalwart, has shared a memory from their U15 days and revealed that when the two met each other four years back, Kohli remembered it and burst out laughing while recalling.
Panchal played his last professional game in February, before calling time on a brilliant career.
鈥淚 have known of Virat since our U-15 NCA days. I used to be chubby back then and had fallen midway in the crease while completing a run with him. Years later, in 2021, he still remembered that story and burst out laughing. Gem of a person,鈥 Panchal tweeted on Friday afternoon.
Last month, Kohli confirmed his decision to retire from Tests, ending a 14-year-long red ball career where he featured in 123 games, scoring 9230 runs and led India in 68 Tests. He announced his decision ahead of the five-match Test series against England.
Meanwhile, in Kohli鈥檚 absence, India lost the opening Test despite five of their batters scoring hundreds, as England chased down 371 in the fourth innings to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
鈥淭ruly happy to see you reach such remarkable heights. From our early days at the NCA camp during the U-15s to the brief time we shared during a Test series, it鈥檚 been a privilege to witness your journey up close,鈥 Panchal had tweeted.
The former Gujarat batter scored over 8850 first-class runs while he had 3672 runs in List A and 1522 in T20s.
Panchal was part of title-winning sides across all formats, the Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2015.
Despite being named in India鈥檚 Test team for the South Africa tour in 2021, he didn鈥檛 get an opportunity to wear the India cap.